Friday, February 26, 2010

For over seven hours yesterday, the nation's top leaders gathered in Washington for a unique conversation on the future of health care reform. Moderated by President Obama, the healthcare summit revealed disparate views on current legislation, with Democrats arguing for comprehensive reform and Republicans pressing for a more incremental approach (or for starting over entirely). We streamed the entire summit on CitizenTube, and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Minority Leader John Boehner, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid all agreed to answer some of your top-voted questions from our Google Moderator platform during the event. (We also offered the opportunity to Senator Mitch McConnnell, the Senate Minority Leader, but he was unable to participate due to a scheduling conflict.)

Though it's doubtful many of you were able to tune in to the entire meeting, the fact that it was broadcast online was an important aspect of the discussion. It spoke to one of the top concerns that YouTube users posed to President Obama in our YouTube Interview earlier this month, when they demanded that health care proceedings become more transparent.

We selected three top-voted questions and the two top-voted ideas that you submitted during the summit, and the lawmakers replied to the same five questions with the YouTube videos that we've embedded below, which are also posted on the YouTube homepage today.

Here are the questions and ideas that each leader answered. We'll leave the full list up on CitizenTube for the next few days:

1. What is the explicit reasoning behind mandating the purchase of healthcare services? - Chris, University of Florida

2. Do you believe that healthcare is a right, or that health insurance is a right? - Brian, Student

3. Thompson Reuters had performed a study in which they concluded that 40% of healthcare waste was from unnecessary care. Unnecessary care is primarily a result of a fear of being sued, aka malpractice. What is being done to address malpractice? - JatPat, Chicago, IL

4. Why not quit artificially limiting the market? Stop tying health insurance to employers and increase the market dramatically. Allow insurance providers to sell across state lines and increase it even more. The larger the market the lower the price. - crodgers1981, Lincoln, NE

5. All people voting on these bills should be required to personally read the entire bill before being allowed to vote on it. It is ridiculous that these bills are thousands of pages long. Bills should be written in clear language. - Blinn, Illinois

Here are Speaker Pelosi's answers:Here are Congressman Boehner's:

And here are Senator Reid's replies:

YouTube has become the place where leaders can connect directly with citizens around key events in the political process. That opportunity for meaningful dialogue makes politics feel more personal, more democratic, and opens up Washington in exciting new ways. Stay tuned for more YouTube interviews, and let us know in the comments whom you'd like the chance to speak with on this platform.Steve Grove, Head of YouTube News and Politics, recently watched "White House Health Care Summit Part I."

30
comments:

Anonymous
said...

These questions are partisan and are based on mislead premises... No wonder Boehner thinks they are thoughtful... If these were the top voted questions, then Boehner should be ecstatic because it means the Republican Misinformation Machine and smear campaign has successfully warped public understanding of the issues. How else can you explain the fact that people want the changes to occur yet are still afraid.

Just like the summit, Dems get 2:1 more time to try and market their lousy ideas. EQUAL TIME is typical to any debate; this is why mainstream media is broken - no equal time; no equal consideration. Looks like you're just another government media outlet.... Try this again the right way next time.

Health Care is not a Right, if what Nancy says is true and it is a right then the Federal Government needs to be buying every citizens health care. Canada is already experiencing how costly that idea is

To Speaker Pelosi: EVERYONE is not going to participate. NO ONE IN THE GOVERNMENT WILL BE COVERED. God gives us our "rights", not the government! Health care and access are NOT rights. I am disabled and have discussed these bills with my many doctors. All talk about how much money is wasted in doing more tests than may be needed just to cover themselves from lawsuits. Costs would be lower to businesses if insurance could be bought across state lines. Government has no business in the business of insurance! They can't handle Medicare, they can't handle Medicaid, and they can't handle Veterans Medical Care. So, there's no way in hell I would give them MORE RESPONSIBILITY for American's health insurance.

Minority Leader Boehner: You're right--the Republicans DID screw it up when they were in charge! As to the bills...72 hours is NOT LONG ENOUGH to read any 2,000+ page bills!!! So, I hope you DO keep bills small!! It's unconstitutional to mandate that Americans buy ANY PRODUCT!!! What are you doing to address this?? Medical malpractice MUST be addressed. As well as culling out the providers who are ripping off the current government health programs! The government SHOULD NOT CHOOSE AMERICANS' HEALTH CARE, for sure!!

Senator Reid: How many of those people are illegal aliens?? It's understandable that 14,000 people/day lose health insurance when many more than that lose their jobs and therefore, their insurance! People are fighting bankruptcy because they're losing their jobs! So, FOCUS ON JOBS and GET OFF THIS OBSCENE HEALTH CARE BILL YOU ARE TRYING TO SHOVE DOWN OUR THROATS!!! YOU WILL JUST GET TIED UP IN LITIGATION YOURSELF, BECAUSE AMERICANS DO NOT WANT THIS PLAN!! The is NO reason to MANDATE HEALTH INSURANCE...IT'S UNCONSTITUTIONAL!! ....and by the way, "mandating" is not "reaching out" it's "dictating"/"requiring". NO, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO MAKE IT SO THAT PEOPLE HAVE INSURANCE...THIS IS NOT A RIGHT!!! GOD, NOT THE GOVERNMENT, GIVES US OUR RIGHTS....AND ANYONE BORN IN AMERICA WITH A CLEF PALET GETS IT REPAIRED, WHETHER IT CAN BE AFFORED OR NOT! (And, if you think it's not, then amend it so that all government employees are included in it, just like all the rest of us! And, take out all the concessions to unions, and to bought off Senators, such as Landrieu, Nelson-FL, Nelson-NE, Dodd and others!)You talk about passing out money like we have it. Wake up!!!!! THE COUNTRY IS GOING BROKE!!! I WORKED IN THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY FOR 18 YEARS, AND YOU KNOW WHAT? NO ONE TRIED TO SCREW ANY MEMBERS!! AND, YOU KNOW WHAT THE AVERAGE PROFIT OF AN INSURANCE COMPANY IS? 3-4%!!! You are trying to make a monster out of an industry so Obama can socialize our medicine and take it over like he's done our auto companies, our financial institutions, our life insurance companies, our mortagage companies. At this rate there will be no independent businesses, and you who want to turn this into a Socialist country will have succeeded. The only thing you're forgetting is THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WHO YEARN TO BE FREE!!!

Regardless of which party received more time to speak the real question to me is: What party used their time wisely and presented the facts and concerns that need to be addressed? The answer to that question is clear in my mind but without answering my own question, I leave that for each of us to answer.

First; what are the fundamental notions of economics? I will answer that one which was copied from this link:http://www.amosweb.com/cgi-bin/awb_nav.pl?s=wpd&c=dsp&k=seven+economic+rules

The one that stands out for me is; Competition #4, and makes sense to me for this discussion...we must open up insurance across state lines to be competitive...

I'm not sure what part of the questions are partisan but all sides must be able to answer these questions...we are all American citizens and should appreciate people taking part in this very important discussion. The final bill won't apply to just the liberals, but will effect every person in the country, young and old. Life is made of compromises and one side should not say to the other side take it or I will shove it down you throat...

We as free people, have enjoyed our freedoms to make our choices good or bad and suffer the consequences by our own decisions...if freedom to make our own choices are taken away from us by the government who is willing to step in and tell an over powering government to stop or at what point do we or can we resist?

John Boehner is the only one making sense here! The key to this is letting Doctors practice with out fear of being sued for every little thing so they only order tests they really believe are necessary and allowing the free market of purchasing insurance across state line the supply will be increased the competition will be increased and that always drives down costs in any market! Anything that increases Gov. control over private areas of our lives in unacceptable and what is more private then our health care!

I am a bit concerned on what legal precident the U.S. Government has, that gives them the right to mandate that every American has to buy something that they (the Government) has determined they need? Seems a bit like a trend toward socialism ? Once their foot is in the door of this new entitlement program, it will absolutely go the way of Social Security..please read up on the original Social Security program and compare it to what it is today. I am an advocate of sending this, and many other responsibilities back to the individual States, so that they can best decide the right type of program for its residents. The best states will have the best programs and states like California will be, as always, broke and in debt to the point where its governments will soon collapse. If everyone has the right to something then they also have the obligation to pay for it. Americans have always had the right to health care...its just gotten too expensive as of late....why ? Government intervention and fraud has driven the prices through the roof. Most people can be seen by a nurse practitioner at a corner health care center for $50. Why cant all pharmacies have a nurse practitioner employed to treat, or refer for further treatment, most of the uninsured. Why, cost of liability insurance is just too high...

One issue in the "Malpractice" costs are the costs to doctors for their insurance. If the average doctor's malpractice insurance bill is $100,000/year, which I believe is somewhere in the ball park, assuming the doctor works 5 days/wk for 50 weeks, that is $400/day for insurance - before paying for any other expense.

Another is the cost of the lawsuits. Some say that this is not a problem because the huge nortorious lawsuits are rare. However the real cost is that of defending against frivolous suit, even if the doctor wins (or doesn't lose-he/she can't win).

It seems to me this issue can be dealt with separately, and should be dealt with first. It should not require a huge Federal Bureau to deal with this issue, so little to no cost to the government. I am not convinced that the malpractice issue is even dealt with even with over 2000 pages in the current bill.

I'm a retired engineer, who worked for a firm that was sued over a failed part that was not designed by that firm, did not manufacture the part, nor had anything whatever to do with that part - and lost the suit! They won on appeal, but I'm sure their legal costs were over $1 million, and unrecoverable. How much of that sort of thing is boosting malpractice insurance costs in our screwed up legal system?!

Did you notice the President's face when Ryan brought up the fraudulent numbers and how quickly he switched subjects?Finally Obama had to back down on a lie (cost of health insurance premiums for individuals will go up-page 4 of CBO report).for a full rundown on this fraud see:www.TheOptionTrader.com/HealthCareFraud.aspx

To the first Anonymous: You are in complete denial. Have you seen the polls? For some time, most polls have shown the American people DO NOT support the passage of ObamaCare. That should answer your question, unless you are delusional.

I found it interesting that Pres Obama didn't want to discuss the detail of their Monsterous Plan but rather make sweeping remarks that whaever the Republicans proposed was already covered in their plan. Instead of a Dog & Pony show what they need is a bipartisan working meeting or series of meeting to include experts from the medical proffesions to wring out each major section of the existing bill and find out what it says & what it means & does it solve the major problems that now exist. I believe the Republicans are right in wanting to scrap this Monstrosity & start over with a clean slate. This bill was written by partisan special interests & jurry rigged time & again to try to get enough votes to get it passed. As usual the Dems & the Pres misscharacterized the Repubs intention of attacking the problems one item at a time. This the way any corporaion attacks problems, not solve al problems at once. That's stupid. Hoyt

Government mandates that anyone who drives a car must purchase insurance. Mandating that everyone has health insurance protects not just those who are uninsured today but also those who are insured and paying, through their premiums, for the health care of those who use the ER as their primary care Dr. Yes we have some of the best Drs in the world in the US, but that does not equate to good health care even if you have ins. A friend of mine waited in the ER for hours, her apendix reputered while she waited to be seen. Another friend died after she war seen and released, her gall blader had ruptured, infection spread all through her body and she died.... She was 34. The son of a friend is in the hospital fighting for his life now. He was seen in the ER and sent home because he has no insurance. He could not stand up alone and had no feeling in his arms and hands. No Dr would see him, he has NO insurance. He was admitted when his Mom took him back to the ER... They told her he will probably not make it. He is in his early 20's.... Think about this... Every inmate in all of our prisons, and jails have the RIGHT to the best health care available. Should not that be given to every American.

It's amazing to me how repetitious this is....the majority of Americans have rejected this Health Care plan and it's shadowy implications. I've been taught "If it sounds too good to be true....than it probably is"....P.T. Barnum said "there's a sucker born every minute". It would appear that this government is appealing to that ilk.

It seems that the control aspect of the Health Bill is the key,Despots do this.It is not better health care. or insurance coverage being prposed. In my opinion the Insurance companies should be talking out about what changes they would make to improve the system if they did not have the present government restrictions. What a sham that they are promoting. WHY?

"Government mandates that anyone who drives a car must purchase insurance. Mandating that everyone has health insurance protects not just those who are uninsured today but also those who are insured and paying, through their premiums, for the health care of those who use the ER as their primary care Dr"

This is a bogus argument because a person CHOOSES TO DRIVE A CAR....If you don't want to buy insurance then you don't have to just don't drive. Today we can CHOOSE TO HAVE HEALTH INSURANCE, or to pay for it ourselves, or to be a slimebag and skip out on our paying. Under the Obamacare monster YOU AND I DON'T GET A CHOICE! These are MANDATES! You WILL BUY INSURANCE WHETHER YOU WANT TO OR NOT AND YOU WILL BUY FROM THE GOVERNMENT CONTROLLED LIST OF POLICIES. And you will STILL PAY FOR THOSE WHO DON'T BECAUSE NOT ALL WILL PAY THE SAME AMOUNT. But now you will have NO CHOICE but that GIVEN to you by the government. GET IT NOW???

Yes there are some good ideas in the Democratic bill. But it is still a government takeover and we just cannot have that. No bill should be thousands of pages long. They seem to agree on quite a few things. I like the Republican's plan of a step at a time. One small bill after the other. That would get it done without the government controlling your life. Honestly, Obama wants a take over, as his "Marxist" teachings indicate, and thinks "We The People" are too stupid to fend for themselves. In fact, HE is too stupid and too stubborn to listen to the people, as they have indeed spoken, and scrap this horrible excuse of a bill. He's willing to be a one term president just to get this passed so he'll have some sort of "legacy?" What good will that kind of legacy be when people will be referring to him as the worst president we've ever had, and possibly (probably)the president who bankrupted the country. Worse than Carter? Oh yeah.

Our gov't should be working on getting gov't "Out of Lives" and not scheming on ways to get more into our business.

I'd be more inclined to support initiatives whereby Congress was forced to take part. At present: they are not "forced" to take part in either Social Security, Medicare or Medicade. Think about that for a minute.

What a great job it must be to sit around all day thinking up ways to collect more money from folks who are already over-taxed, push programs out there that you wouldn't have to participate in yourself, and care only about getting to the next election instead of what is truly best for the nation. Agreed: its time to bump them ALL out and find people who really do care not only about our people - but our Constitution as well. Less gov't is better gov't.

To the person stating: "Yes there are some good ideas in the Democratic bill. But it is still a government takeover and we just cannot have that."

You've contradicted yourself here fairly well. Any form of government health care is a "takeover" no matter how you slice it, step by step or otherwise. They have NO business in the matter at all !!!!

Which is it? Marxist thinking (teachings indicate, and thinks "We The People" are too stupid to fend for themselves.) or we can do it ourselves?

That is what's inherently wrong with this entire debate. People get into trouble and they want the government to bail them out. And then when things are going great, they want to be left alone. Can't have it both ways and in my view - we simply follow the Consitution as we're supposed to and not use it when convenient and ignore it at other times.

It really bothers me to see the some of the American People so ignorant to the facts. Let me ask you this question" Would you like to have the same coverage for yours family that your elected Representatives have in the Congree and Senate"? That is the bottom line. If you don't want your family to have this then you have no argument against the folks who do.Some of you listen to those folk espousing 'Big Government" well if you took the time and figured out what that means then you are an educated American. Your tax dollars go in the the Government Bank and then there comes a time that it must be tapped for use on the People. Would you rather it go to Corporation CEO's that is what less government is. Money taken out of the bank and funneled to Corporations or new ones set up to use government funds. All of you must take a hard look and listen to what is said and the code words. That is why the pass administrations got away with transporting jobs over seas. They used the words Bif Government and you fell for it.

Let me tell you about John Boehner. I have found that since he has been in wASHINGTON HE IS MORE INTERESTED IN HIS TAN THAN THE OHIOIANS THAT HE IS SUPPOSE TO REPRESENT AND i WAS A SUCKER TO VOTE FOR HIM i WANT THE NEXT TIME AROUND

ALL OF YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT THE PEOPLE IN OHIO IS SUFFERING BECAUSE OF HIS WRONG THINKING AND DOING. WE NEED HEALTH CARE HERE AND I HOPE IT IS PASSED. A LOT OF YOU BETTER WAKE UP. NO MORE TANNING FOR JOHN BOEHNER.

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